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Arts & Culture pages 11 to
from 19 January 2022
’Toban turntable
Beverly Glenn-Copeland — ‘Keyboard Fantasies Reimagined’ Ruby Singh — ‘Vox.Infold’
ARTS & CULTURE
Alex Braun, staff
4/5 stars
New Brunswick-based singer, songwriter and multiinstrumentalist Beverly GlennCopeland has had a storied and strange career, from exploratory, meditative folk jazz work in the ’70s, to stints on Mr. Dressup and Sesame Street and a modern resurgence as an unsung innovator and genius. The work of his with the longest half-life has undoubtedly been the 1986 new-age masterpiece Keyboard Fantasies. Since being dug up from the crates, Keyboard Fantasies has been endlessly namechecked and lauded by contemporary tastemakers. This late-in-the-game rediscovery of Copeland’s spectral, spiritual music has now produced a full album of covers and remixes, Keyboard Fantasies Reimagined.
Compiled by Transgressive Records, a U.K. label home to legends like Damon Albarn and Winnipeg’s own Boniface, the artists presented here are among the coolest and most critically lauded around.
The album begins with a cover of the gorgeous “Ever New” by arguably one of the most important artists of the past decade and a half, Bon Iver, along with his bandmate and excellent artist in her own right Jenn Wasner, performing as Flock of Dimes. Justin Vernon’s voice reflects some of the deep richness of Copeland’s, while Wasner’s has an icy thinness that contrasts perfectly. transfigure their respective tracks, “Fastest Star” and “Old (New) Melody,” into chilling, ghostly apparitions of the originals, while Arca, one of the most prolific producers working, cuts and splices Copeland’s original vocals over a gorgeous piano composition, completely recontextualizing “Let Us Dance.”
The album’s second version of “Ever New” comes next, a “transportation” by the U.K.’s Kelsey Lu into a 10-minute epic that adds orchestration, chipmunked vocals and dancefloor bass, creating an exhilaratingly blissful vibe. Blood Orange, meanwhile, leans into earthy percussion on his remix of “Sunset Village,” adding subtle new layers of rhythm and harmony.
The record’s third, final and best version of “Ever New” comes courtesy of Toronto-based saxophonist Joseph Shabason and producer Thom Gill, who add woozy analog synths, bird songs, majestic saxophone and choral guitar, tastefully building on the original’s iconic new-age palette.
Though it doesn’t hold a candle to the original record, this remix album is a rarity in its excellence, with a perfectly curated set of young musicians reimagining a classic but timeless record. The artists display a remarkable reverence for Copeland’s work and do well in capturing and expanding upon the unique, elusive spirit of the original recordings.
ARTS & CULTURE
Alex Braun, staff
provided / Killbeat Music image /
4/5 stars
Ruby Singh’s new album, Vox. Infold, is a truly immersive, exciting experience. With lofty ideas, wildly experimental composition, intricate mixing and unexpected digital processing, Singh has crafted something fresh and vital.
Singh drew inspiration from the upheaval of the ongoing pandemic, as well as movements for justice for racialized people and revelations around the genocidal practices of the Canadian government, saying, “I wanted to see what it might mean to make music outside of the lens and influence of white supremacy and capitalism.” He assembled a group of Indigenous, Inuit, Black and South Asian voices for the album, drawing from a wide variety of vocal techniques from throat singing to beatboxing to eastern microtonal vocal runs.
The result is amorphous, confounding music. The shapeshifting opener “Hyphae” hypnotizes with an eerie intro of dissonant, distorted drones and drawn-out chanting, disembodied and singing into a void of dark ambience, as if floating in space. As a higher voice — moving microtonally — replaces the magisterial chant with evocative yearning, the underlying drone begins pulsating with chiming, polyrhythmic chirping, bristling with propulsive, anxious energy.
The piece continues building, with throat singers panned hard in each direction, ominous drones and unnatural, digitally manipulated voices cutting in and out. The production is just as interesting as the composition and performances. As Singh’s mix is deep and enveloping, focusing in any given direction finds you a new vocal layer, and each voice is rendered in great textural detail. You can hear each breath, each vocal inflection, with exacting clarity.
The remaining tracks work to focus this wide ambition into tighter structures and more focused styles, like the lead single “Nakshatra,” a trip-hop-inflected deep groove with a heavy atmosphere. The other lengthy cut, “Rhizome,” is built on a rhythmic, throat-sung beat and an uneasy repeated harmony part, evoking anxious confusion. The album’s mood is unstable and mysterious, the rhythmic aspects are propulsive but labyrinthine, the melodies are beautiful but melancholic and the harmony remains harsh and dissonant throughout, making the emotional breaks of resonance deeply cathartic.
Vox.Infold is an immersive, unique listening experience that demands to be heard on its own terms, as enigmatic as they are.
Ruby Singh’s album Vox.Infold will be released via Bandcamp on Jan. 31. It will be available on all other music platforms on Feb. 18.
Men’s hockey dominant over Griffins
Bisons stay hot heading into 2022
SPORTS
Matthew Merkel, staff The University of Manitoba Bisons men’s hockey team played a two-game series against the MacEwan University Griffins this weekend. The herd was dominant over the weekend, winning Friday’s game 4-2 and Saturday’s 5-2.
In game one of the weekend, the Griffins got off to a quick start. After a Bisons chance in front, MacEwan would quickly transition up ice. On the ensuing rush, Chase Thudium hammered home a one-timer to put the Griffins up 1-0.
With less than a minute left in the period, MacEwan forward Loeden Schaufler would pick up his own rebound on the side of the net and wrap it around to make it 2-0.
After some back-and-forth play in the second, the Bisons struck. On the power play, Reece Harsch fired a slapshot blocker side past Griffins goaltender Ty Taylor to make it 2-1. Only seconds later the Bisons would even the score. Off the ensuing faceoff, Geordie Keane slid the puck to Bison forward Noah Basarab who roofed it to tie the score at two.
In the third, the Bisons would take over. On the power play, Linden McCorrister tipped in a pass from Brett Davis to give the Bisons the lead. A few minutes later, Chase Hartje sniped a shot short side to make the score 4-2. After having puck possession for much of the game, the Griffins ran out of gas — the team mustered only one shot in the final frame, handing the Bisons its fourth win of the season.
Basarab’s game-tying goal was the first of his U Sports career. The firstyear forward was thrilled to finally score at the collegiate level.
“It feels good to get the monkey off the back,” said Basarab.
“It’s [been] a long time coming, so it feels good.”
After getting off to a slow start, Basarab’s goal appeared to swing the game’s momentum in the Bisons favour, allowing the U of M to play more offensively in the third. Basarab knows that each game is crucial heading into the latter half of the season. He knows that if the herd hopes to continue to have success, they must continue to execute.
“I mean, once we started playing our way I think it started going our way,” said Basarab.
“Every weekend from here on out is going to be a big weekend for us. We’ve got to keep playing our way and hopefully things go our way.”
Basarab would once again be written on the scoresheet early on in game two. Five minutes after the Bisons gave up an early goal to the Griffins, Basarab found himself beside the Griffins’ net. With the puck squirting out to his feet, the Gimli native would bank a shot off MacEwan goaltender Ty Taylor and into the net to even the score at one.
However, after killing a MacEwan power play, the Bisons were down by one after Griffins forward Zach Webb notched his second goal of the season to make it 2-1.
In the second, Keane would tie it up for the Bisons at two, with Basarab and Bison captain Keaton Jameson assisting on the goal.
The beginning of the third was evenly contested, as both teams battled for the next goal. After playing end-to-end action for the first half of the period, the Bisons blew the game open.
On the power play, Jameson would find linemate Devon Skoleski in the slot, where he would wire a shot past Taylor to give the herd the lead. A few minutes later, Jameson made a similar pass to Basarab, who sniped it top blocker for his second of the game and third of the weekend. With less than three minutes left in the game, Skoleski would get his second power-play goal of the game, adding a cherry on top to a convincing 5-2 Bison victory.
With the win, the Bisons sit only two points back from the sixth-place Mount Royal University Cougars and four points from the fifth-place University of Regina Cougars. After losing eight of its first nine games to start the season, the Bisons have been on a hot streak, winning four of its last five.
Jameson had the most points over the weekend with six, followed by Basarab with four and Keane with three. Davis added two assists over the weekend, giving him 17 points on the year, good for fifth in Canada West.
staff Matthew Merkel / photo /
